Philip Auslander, "Introduction," in From Acting to Performance: Essays in Modernism and Postmodernism (1997)

As some notes and passing references in several chapters here suggest, I have wondered particularly whether the body in performance can be accounted for semiotically, for the body seems in some ways to defeat signification. On the other hand, to posit the body as an absolute, originary presence beyond signification is neither accurate nor theoretically defensible. The problematic of the performing body lies in the tension between the body’s inevitably serving as a signifier while simultaneously exceeding, without transcending, that function: “when the intention is to present the body itself as flesh...it remains a sign nonetheless.... When the intention is to present the performer’s body as primarily a sign..., corporeality always inter- venes...” (Erickson 1995:66–7). The essays in the third section, entitled “Postmodern body politics,” continue the discussion of the signifying body begun in Chapter 8 and atttempt in various ways to arrive at a non-essentialist view of the body that nevertheless acknowledges its corporeality.[6] (8)